So, you have had a nice amplifier for years. One day, out of the blue, it makes a rude noise and stops working. Be happy. You don't know what you have been missing for the last ten or twenty years. Time marches on and the audio industry gets better with each passing year. Most good audio manufacturers redesign and improve their amplifiers (and other components)…

My First "Stereo"

April 14, 2023

My first "stereo" was a previously owned RCA console. I knew nothing about audio or hi-fi. When it did not sound anything like the Baltimore Symphony in the Lyric Theater (I am dating myself) I started by pulling out the tubes, cute little glass bottles that generated the sound. Not that doing so taught me anything or fixed the vague sound. At some point soon the console ended in the trash. By…

Thank your local electrical company for powering your stereo's speakers. Your so-called amplifier does not amplify. It controls the power of your wall socket. Trivia fact: your wall socket of 120 volts of alternating current could send 3,600 watts into your speakers  if not for the amplifier controlling it. The incoming signal to your amplfier is the control signal opening  and…